Mistakes for the Better
by E. Limberg
Summary: A hit in CODIS on Mac's case comes back a partial match to Stella. She doesn't have anything to help him, being an orphan, and doesn't want involved. But Mac thinks otherwise. Mac and Stella later.
1. Connections

**Mistakes for the Better**

**Chapter 1: Connections**

"Mac, I just got the DNA results back from the scraping under the vic's fingernails. It's… well, you have to look," Hawkes hands over the report.

Mac reads through it. "A partial match to Stella?"

"Male DNA so a father or a brother. What do we do?"

"I'm going to have a talk with her while you continue processing."

"Are you going to ask her for her relatives' addresses so we can ask for DNA samples?"

Mac frowns, "She can't do that, Sheldon. Stella… grew up in foster care. She doesn't know her family."

"Things couldn't be easy for once."

"Keep working," Mac walks away in search of Stella. He finds her in her office and knocks gently on the door before entering.

"Hey, Mac. What do you need?" she looks up from her file and smiles.

He sits opposite her, not sure where to start. "A sample of DNA from our case came back with a partial match."

"What does you case have to do with me?" He looks down at the piece of paper in his hands without responding. "What's the matter, Mac?"

"Someone related to you is involved in our victim's murder," he hands over the report.

Stella reads it over several times in disbelief. "You know I don't have anything for you, Mac. Even if I wanted to help you, I don't know anything about my parents or if I have any siblings."

"You don't even know a name?"

She shakes her head. "I don't even know if my last name is from my mother or my father."

Mac sighs. "There has to be paperwork somewhere that has your parents' names on it. You have to have a birth certificate."

"I suppose there is somewhere unless they just left me in the middle of the night."

"Stel, you have to have a birth certificate."

"I don't. I think my foster parents had it or a copy, and they never gave it to me when I left."

"Do I have your permission to look through your file if I locate it?" he asks.

She shrugs, "If it'll help your case."

"I'll even let you look at it if you want," he offers, knowing she has always wondered about her past.

"I gave up on them a long time ago, Mac."

"I didn't mean you had to search for them. I just thought it might answer some questions."

"I'd rather not know at all."

"Okay," he nods. "Let me know if you change your mind."

Stella leans back in her chair and looks out the window while he leaves. She closes her eyes to think. She really did want answers but she had gone thirty-six years without knowing; she could last the rest of her life without the information.

Suddenly she stands, an idea coming to her. "Mac," she follows him down the hall.

He turns back to her, waiting for her to catch up. "Change your mind so quickly?"

"I know where there might be some records. I, um… didn't spend my whole life in foster care."

"You didn't?" he looks questioningly at her.

"I was in an orphanage until I was five and started school. St. Basil's."

"I guess I'll start there then. Thanks for your help."

As he turns to leave, she speaks again. "Can I go with you?"

"Stella, you can't be involved in the case," he begins.

"But I'm not. You're just going to get the file. As long as I don't touch it, what's wrong with me going?"

"I was going to see if anyone knew anything about your parents."

"Okay, it wasn't really important," Stella starts walking back to her office.

Mac sighs and concedes, "I guess you can come along, Stel."

**A/N: Hope you guys like it so far. The story's only five chapters and I'll try to post every other day. My grandma is moving up closer to us from North Carolina so we'll probably be over there and helping her get stuff done so she can live over there when her furniture arrives. And I have band again this week. Only Monday and Thursday though. Hopefully we get more done. If we weren't always with the clarinets, I think we could get through more. No offense to clarinet players. But we spent fifteen minutes passing out music, then forty-five on the three pregame songs and I don't think we ever did the fight song in cut time like it's supposed to be, and only worked twenty-five minutes on football show. We only played like half of two different songs. Maybe they didn't want to overwhelm the freshmen. I really need to go practice on my flute instead of piccolo. I got first flute part for football show and I can't play that high on piccolo so it doesn't help me to practice on that. And I think Indiana Jones can be taken up an octive for first flutes since it says 8va on it. I'll probably only take some parts up because some of it is very low for marching band. We'll never be heard during that song. Well, I'll shut up now. Please tell me what you think so far.**


	2. Memories

**Chapter 2: Memories**

"Is that really you, Stella?" the father of the church and orphanage asks.

"How did you guess?" she hugs him.

"The hair gave you away. So what brings you here? I haven't seen you in many years."

"We came here for some information for a case. This is Mac Taylor, my partner."

The two men shake hands, "Nice to meet you. I was wondering if you happen to have any records of her parents."

He turns to her, "You're not trying to find them, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I could care less right now. But the DNA from one of his cases came back as a partial match to me. It would help him a lot to at least know my father's name so he can ask him some questions."

"Your mother brought you here when you were only a few days old. I can't recall a man with her. If she knew who your father was, it'd be in the paperwork. Let's go to my office." They follow him into a small, crowded yet organized room. "Hasn't changed much, has it?"

"Not that I can remember."

"You spent a lot of time in here?" Mac asks curiously.

"Stella had a way of always finding trouble," the father smiles at her. "We spent many afternoons together, and I became quite fond of her."

He smiles at his partner and takes the file, beginning to look through it. "Do you need this back?"

"Yes. I can make a copy of whatever you need."

"Do you know why her parents didn't keep her?"

"I'm going to leave you two alone," Stella stands. "Mind if I look around?"

"You don't have to leave. I think you should stay. Unless he needs you to," the father says.

She looks at Mac. "Whatever you want to do," he tells her. She sits back down.

"Her mother was only about twenty. She didn't have money in order to take care of a baby. I'm not sure whether the father didn't know or left her or just didn't have any money either."

"The father wasn't here at all?"

"No. I only saw the mother once when she dropped the baby off. I hate to say it, but I think she was better growing up in the system than with her parents. Of course, for all I know, they could have become rich."

"I'm right here you know. And if they did get money, they would have searched for me if they really loved me."

They sit silently for a few moments before Mac speaks. "I can't think of anything else."

"Let me copy this for you," the father leaves.

"Stel, don't be so difficult. I'm sure they loved you. Maybe they thought you had been adopted and you were happy so they never looked for you."

"Did you get your names?"

"Yes. Your birth certificate is even in there."

"Can I have the keys?"

"Why?"

"I need to get out of here. I'll meet you at the car."

"Okay," he hands over his keys. "Don't leave without me."

"Tell him it was nice seeing him again and that I'll try to visit again soon," Stella leaves.

A few minutes later the father enters again. "Here you go. Good luck with your case. I sure hope her father isn't involved; she doesn't need to meet him like this."

"I noticed you had her birth certificate in there. Shouldn't she have that?"

He opens his folder. "Yes, I suppose she should. Let me take the copy."

They trade papers. "Thanks for you help."

"No problem. Always glad to see former children again."

**A/N: Gee, you guys must not like this story. I only got one review so far. Or the usual people that review are gone. Nothing new really... we didn't get anything more done at band yesterday. But we did play all four songs last night during full band. It wasn't as crowded as it normally is when we're all together so either the band got smaller or lots of people weren't there. And we're suppose to get two more songs Thursday when we go. I think I want to have four or five memorized by August when we go back. But if I memorize that many, it'll be like last year when I knew all by like one and we only play four songs all season. We had eight songs I think last year and only six this year. Plus contest... which we still don't know. I'm almost done with Beowulf. Then I think I'll read Eaters of the Dead. Then Ivanhoe. And I have to turn in Calculus stuff Thursday when I go to school. I should post again on Thursday sometime. Please review.**


	3. Seeking Information

**Chapter 3: Seeking Information**

"Sheldon, I've got a name. Danny is finding us an address. Anything new?" Mac enters the lab.

"Couple fingerprints. No matches in AFIS. And no ID on the victim yet."

"Sid finish the autopsy?"

"She died of strangulation. No marks on her neck, but there were some fibers in her mouth. Adam is working on them. She wasn't raped. Nothing unusual," he reports. "How's Stella taking it?"

"She doesn't want anything to do with him if we bring him in. Said she didn't really care about finding her parents anymore." Mac sighs. "I sent her out with Lindsay. Maybe that'll help her."

"Why didn't they keep her?"

"Mother was young, poor. We don't know anything about the father. He might not know she exists."

Danny enters, "Got an address. Flack went to check it out."

"We can't find her killer until we have something to match it to. In the meantime, why don't you go through missing persons and see if we can't ID our victim?" Mac suggests, heading out.

**Mistakes**

"Danny said they're looking for you father," Lindsay begins.

"Of course the whole lab has to know," Stella sighs.

"You don't want to find your parents?"

"I did when I was little. I always thought they'd come for me sometime. But I realized that wasn't going to happen. Now I'm not sure I want to know. I've gone so long by myself that it doesn't matter."

"What about Mac?"

"What about him?" Stella frowns.

"He's always been by your side. You haven't always been alone." They curly-haired detective doesn't have anything to say. "How come nothing ever happened between you two?"

"We work together. He's my boss."

"But you bring out the best in each other. Stel, he really cares about you."

"As a friend."

"Do you have feelings for him?" Lindsay pushes for information.

"I love him as you love a brother, no matter how annoying they are. It'd never go anywhere between us."

"What if he asked you out?"

"He wouldn't."

"Imagine that he did."

"They only thing Mac and I have in common is work."

"You're both guarded. You care about each other. You won't stop until a case is solved."

"Can we let it go?"

They finish their work in silence. As they're packing up, Lindsay speaks. "Did you eat lunch?"

"No." Stella looks at her watch. "It's a little late now."

"So? We might not get dinner for a while. I'll pay."

"Okay."

**Mistakes**

Don knocks on Mac's door. "He's in the interrogation room. I can't get a word out of him. I'm going to call a judge and see if we can't get a warrant for his DNA and fingerprints."

"I'll see if I can get him to talk. I was reading her file, and there's nothing to suggest the father knew. Only place he's mentioned is on the line for the father's name."

"So you're going to tell him he has a daughter, and he'll want to meet her, which won't happen since Stella won't get involved?"

"Unless we convince her otherwise."

**A/N: I don't know where the Stella and Lindsay scene came from. I guess I just decided to put some Mac and Stella in before it actually comes later on. I should post the next chapter Saturday and the last next Monday. Had band again today... I think we got through all but part of one song. We're still waiting to get one of the songs though. I've got three of them memorized I think. I like the one we got today except I couldn't play half of the written notes since I can't remember how to play high A or A flat. Have to get out the fingering charts I guess. And my mom decided that she's not paying the music store for piccolo lessons so I have to ask someone. I think I'm doing okay on my own but it's getting kind of boring to play the same music over and over. I just need to learn to play above a high C. Sometimes I can get D and sometimes E flat, but nothing above that. Of course I haven't tried too hard since it's starting to hurt my ears but... nothing else really. I'm going to visit the University of Toldeo tomorrow. I think we have to be there at like eight or nine so we have to leave at like six. Too early. Anyway... I didn't intend to sound so mean about the reviews but normally I do get at least two or three a chapter. And thanks to those that did review last chapter. Keep them coming.**


	4. Trades

**Chapter 4: Trades**

"Mr. Bonasera, are you aware that you have a daughter?" Mac asks, setting a picture of a baby on the table.

"What are you talking about?"

"That's how we found you. The DNA under the fingernails of this dead woman," he pulls out another photo, "came back as a match to her, and we found you through her."

"How does she know me? I don't know her."

"She doesn't know you. She doesn't know her mother either. She grew up in foster care because you got her mother pregnant when she was only twenty and couldn't care for a baby."

"Can I see my daughter?"

Mac shrugs. "What happened to this girl?" he points to the picture of the dead woman.

"How do you know my daughter?"

"I'm her boss."

"Will I get to see her?"

"If you tell me everything and let me take your DNA and fingerprints."

The man thinks for a moment, "Deal."

Half an hour later Mac exits the interrogation room. "Should I put him in a holding cell until we get the results?" Flack asks.

"Not yet." He wanders through the lab until he finds Stella. "Stel, can you come with me?"

"I guess," she follows him back toward the interrogation room. "Do you have to question me or something?"

"There's someone that would like to meet you."

She stops abruptly, "Mac, I told you not to involve me in this."

"It was the only way to get him to confess."

"Did he tell you what happened already?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm not going in there," she crosses her arms.

"Stella Bonasera, if you won't go in there voluntarily, I will carry you in there. Just five minutes. Please."

"What do I say to him?"

"Whatever you want. You can even yell at him for getting your mom pregnant when she was so young, causing her to put you in foster care."

Reluctantly she enters the room. Mac follows her. "This is your daughter, Stella."

"You look just like your mother," her father says.

Cautiously she sits across from him. "You didn't mean to get my mom pregnant, did you?"

"No. She never told me I had a daughter. So are you married, have kids?"

She shakes her head. "You killed someone?"

"I… you're probably better off not knowing. What do you do exactly?"

"I'm a detective. I analyze crime scenes and process evidence to catch murderers."

"Have you met your mother?" Stella shakes her head again. "I'm sure she'd like to meet you. She wouldn't have given you up if she didn't have to."

"The only reason I'm in here is because he promised you you could meet me if you confessed. I'm over being alone." They sit silently for a few more minutes, avoiding looking at each other. She stands, "I still have work to get done before I leave."

After she closes the door, he turns to Mac. "Is she always like that?"

Mac sighs, "Yeah, she can be quite stubborn at times. I'll talk with her later."

Flack knocks on the door and enters. "What happened in here? She looked pretty upset."

"Take him away, Don," Mac heads to the door. "I'll take care of her."

**A/N: Mac's going to get it now. He should have listened to her. But it'll all work out. One chapter to go. I'll probably post in Monday. I really need to get some more typing done, and I've had plenty of opportunity, but I have to watch my grandma's dog when they're gone. He mostly stays in his box so I'd probably be okay as long as I stopped to take him out once or twice. But I'd rather not. After this story is done, I've only got two one chapter things typed. I've got one story that's been written since like April but I've been putting off typing it since it's fifteen chapters. Then there's a ten chapter one and another one chapter one. And I'm almost done with a nine chapter one. That one I had some difficulties with. I wasn't liking the way it was going so I was going to rewrite it and make it better. But then I decided to save the first four chapters and changed the fifth. Then the sixth chapter was kind of like the old fifth with some changes. Mac and Stella are fighting in that one. It gets pretty bad. Okay... well, I think I might go practice my flute and/or piccolo. Thanks.**


	5. Revelations

**Chapter 5: Revelations**

Stella plops down into a chair in her office, trying to cool down and hold back the tears before going back to the evidence. The door opens, and she doesn't look up. "Leave me alone."

Instead of listening to her, Mac kneels in front of her. He gently lifts a hand and tucks it under her chin, trying to get her to look at him. "Stel."

She grabs his wrist. "Don't touch me. I don't want to talk, especially to you."

"He had a right to know he had a daughter. Even if he is a criminal, he deserved the courtesy of spending at least five minutes with you."

She looks up at him at last, wiping the tears away. "I'm a mistake. I shouldn't even be here, Mac."

"What do you mean?"

"He said he didn't mean to get my mom pregnant. I was just an accident and shouldn't exist."

"Stel, you can't seriously mean that," he touches her cheek timidly.

"Nobody wants me anyway. It'd be better if I was never born."

"You're part of our family, Stella. We all need you. _I_ need you. You're my best friend; I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."

"Don't lie," she shakes her head, pulling away from him. She gets up, walking to the window where he couldn't bother her.

Mac slowly follows her to the window. When he is near enough, he wraps his arms around her. She flinches at first, stiff in his embrace. Eventually she let's go, giving in to his hug. "I wouldn't lie to you. We do need you," he pauses, then puts his lips next to her ear. "I love you, Stel. Nothing can change that."

She remains relaxed, clinging to him, much to his surprise. Minutes later she pulls away. "I'm sorry, Mac. Finding out no one intended for you to be alive isn't exactly easy to take."

"I understand. Just don't think that you shouldn't be here because you weren't planned," he reaches out to tuck a strand of curls behind her ear.

"I should get back to Lindsay. She's probably wondering what happened to me." They stare at each other for a moment before she heads to the door.

Mac watches her leave, wondering what he did wrong. He was so sure she loved him too, but now he didn't think so. "Stella, wait," he yells, coming after her.

Stella turns around when she hears him calling her name. "What is it, Mac?" she asks as he approaches.

Suddenly he presses his lips to hers. Although he doesn't feel her pulling away, he ends it before it gets too passionate. "Do you want to get dinner with me when you're done?"

"Uh… I guess," she says slowly.

He takes a big breath. "I need to know if you love me too."

She looks around the lab for a moment before kissing him again. "How can I not?"

"So you're not mad about this whole thing?"

"I didn't say that. Mac, I told you not to involve me."

"Let's not start our relationship with a fight."

"You brought it up!"

"Was it really that bad?" She glares at him. "I guess so. Maybe it won't be that way with your mother."

"What?"

"You met one; you have to find the other."

"Let me think about it. But I need some time first."

Mac smiles. "Can't you skip work and just go to dinner? I haven't eaten since breakfast."

"You tell Lindsay it can wait until morning."

Fifteen minutes later they are placing their orders. "Great, our first date is at the diner down the block from the lab."

He laughs, "I promise the second will be better."

"If you get a second."

"Stel," he begins, "I want you to stay at my place for a few nights."

"That's a little too fast, Mac."

"I just want to make sure you don't do anything stupid. I know you're past that right now, but I only want you to be safe."

**Mistakes**

"Sure you don't want me to stay on the couch?" he asks, ready to turn off the lamp.

"As long as you don't try anything, you can stay." She scoots closer to him as he lays down, resting her head on his chest.

"God, your feet a freezing. Didn't you pack any socks?"

"My feet are not cold," she argues.

"If you say so," he mumbles.

"Just go to sleep."

He remains quiet for a second. "Are you comfortable?"

"Yes. You make a good pillow."

**A/N: All over. It ended okay. So maybe Thursday I'll post one of my one chapter stories, then the other one... Sunday or Monday. And I need to get typing. I think my brother has baseball tomorrow night and Thursday so hopefully I can get at least the ten chapter one done those two nights. Maybe start the fifteen chapter one. Or the one I'm almost done writing. Maybe I'll save the fifteen chapter one for my fiftieth Mac/Stella story. I'm somewhere in the forties now. But I think with the others that I have written I might be at fifty. Except on here I have two Danny/Lindsay stories so it'd really be my fifty-second story. If I wouldn't get distracted from typing, I probably would have more done. But I always find other things to do while my parents are gone. Like downloading music. Anyway... it's rained here like everyday for the past week. I wish it'd stop... I don't like when it's really hot but I'm sick of rain. I hope you guys enjoyed this story and will review to tell me your final thoughts. Something's wrong with the reviews though because I'm just now getting emails for the ones from chapters three and four which you guys sent a couple days ago. Thanks for reading. **


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